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Updated March 4, 1:55 p.m.
Williamson County is fully reporting unofficial results from all 178 voting precincts for both the Democratic and Republican primary elections as of 12:56 p.m. March 4.
The county processed 33,173 election day ballots, according to the elections result tracker.
The results
The two candidates with the most votes for the Williamson County Precinct 2 commissioner in the Republican primary are David McDonald and Jeff Mayes. McDonald won 45.13% of the votes, amounting to 5,819 ballots cast, and Mayes received 29.46% of votes, or 3,716 ballots cast. No Democratic candidates ran for the position.
Because neither candidates earned more than 50% of votes, they will face off in the May 26 runoff.
Updated March 4, 7 a.m.
Williamson County is partially reporting results from election night as of 7 a.m. March 4. The county's elections results tracker was last updated just after 4 a.m.
What's changed
Overnight, the the county has processed 16,293 election day ballots, many of them cast in the Democratic primary, according to the tracker.
In the Democratic primary, 168 of the 178 total voter precincts have reported. On the Republican side, however, just 15 of the 178 precincts are reporting election day results.
This is likely due to procedural changes in how the Republican Party is collecting and counting election day ballots. Williamson County Elections Administrator Bridgette Escobedo predicted in January that this may lead to results being unavailable until March 4.
“I just wanted to set everyone's expectations that you might go to bed without knowing your election results, and that's okay,” Escobedo said at a Jan 27 Commissioners Court meeting. “Nothing nefarious has happened or nothing's gone wrong. It's just going to take us a little bit more time on election day to process those ballots.”
Latest update
Only 11 election day votes have been reported in the Republican primary for Williamson County Precinct 2 commissioner.
David McDonald continues to lead the field with 47.58% of the votes, or 3,806 votes. He's trailed by Jeff Mayes, who has 27.71% of votes, or 2,217 votes, and Rupal Chaudhari with 24.71% of the votes, or 1,977 votes.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the two candidates with the most votes will go to a May 26 runoff.
This story will be updated as additional election day vote totals are released.
Updated March 3, 11:00 p.m.
Following delays, Williamson County is reporting early voting results as of 10:46 p.m. March 3.
The update
Republican voters in Williamson County’s Precinct 2—which covers the Cedar Park, Leander and Liberty Hill area—cast ballots for who they want to be county commissioner.
Early voting results show former Leander City Council member David McDonald has the highest percentage of votes.
The winner of the race will be uncontested in the November general election, since no Democratic candidate filed to run, clearing the way for them to be elected to Williamson County Commissioners Court.
The breakdown
Three Republican candidates appeared on the ballot. McDonald received 47.48% of votes cast during early voting, or 3,801 total votes.
Jeff Mayes, a commercial real estate broker and former high school agriculture teacher, garnered 27.73% of the early vote, with 2,215 votes. And, Rupal Chaudhari, an attorney and business owner, received 24.7% of early votes cast, or 1,973 votes.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will head to a runoff. The uniform runoff election day for all primary races is May 26.
Read Q&As with each of the candidates here.
The background
The primary comes as sitting Precinct 2 commissioner Cynthia Long decided not to seek reelection after nearly 20 years of service.
Zooming out
During early voting, which ran from Feb. 17-27, a total of 84,480 Williamson County ballots were cast, representing 18.6% of the 455,139 total registered voters in the county.
While Republican voters in Precinct 2 could weigh in on the commissioner race, there were contested elections on both the Republican and Democratic side for U.S. House, Texas Senate, Texas House and statewide positions.
Totals from ballots cast March 3 have yet to be released.
Most Williamson County polls closed at 7 p.m., and voters who were in already were still able to cast ballots.
Two election locations in Georgetown had extended voting hours until 10 p.m. following a court order. During this time, voters in these precincts could cast provisional ballots. This delayed the release of any election results.
Posted March 3, 8:41 p.m.
After briefly posting early voting results, Williamson County removed those tallies from its website as of 8 p.m.
This follows a court order directing two polling locations in Georgetown to remain open until 10 p.m. on primary election day March 3.
What we know
Kim Collins Gilby, Williamson County Democratic Party chair, said the party progressed a court order, which has been signed by Judge Betsy Lambeth, to keep two Georgetown polling locations open until 10 p.m.
At the Georgetown Annex, both Republican and Democratic voters are able to get in line and vote, Gilby said. Northstar Georgetown will remain open to Democratic voters only, she said. Only voters who live in the precincts affiliated with these polling locations will be able to vote.
Gilby said these locations were chosen because the lines have been long all day. Voters in line at any county polling place as of 7 p.m. will cast a regular ballot. Those who arrive to vote at the two extended sites before 10 p.m. will cast a provisional ballot, she said.
Lambeth's court order also prevents early voting results from being released until 10 p.m., a county official said.
Usually, early voting totals are posted at 7 p.m. when polls close on election day.
Zooming out
The Williamson County Republican Party opted for precinct-specific polling locations on election day this year, which required the Democratic Party to follow suit.
As of 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, the line to vote at Hutto Discovery United Methodist Church spilled onto the sidewalk outside.
Several voters in line at the church, which is serving as a Democratic polling location, said they were unaware of precinct-based voting. Some said they were turned away from previous polling places they showed up at.
Williamson County Elections Administrator Bridgette Escobedo said during a January Commissioners Court meeting that election day results may not be available the night of March 3 due to procedural changes in how the county will collect and count ballots.
On election day, Republican voters used preprinted, sequentially numbered paper ballots, which are hand-marked and placed into a ballot box. The boxes are then transported to the elections office for scanning.
Democratic voters used ballots printed during check-in, which are then hand-marked and scanned electronically on-site.
What’s next?
Community Impact will update this article as more election day vote totals are released. All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all contested local and state elections in your community.
Jessica McLaren contributed to this report.
